“Ouch!” he yelped. “You’re right cross is getting better,” he stated immediately after.

I bowed my head. “Thank you. I have a good teacher. But don’t scare me like that again.” I pointed at him before moving into his arms.

“Noted,” he murmured in my ear and then pulling back to kiss my lips.

“Did you get that issue resolved?” I questioned on a raised eyebrow.

“The venue has finally been booked.”

I clapped. “Good. The girls will be so happy once I tell them.”

Josh nodded. “Thank you for loving my parents as much as I do.”

I cupped my husband’s cheek. “How could I not? They raised you and you are my everything.”

His lips covered mine in an instant. I moaned into his mouth, feeling swept away. It took me a second to realize that I had literally been picked up off the ground and carried to my desk.

“Wait! No,” I yelped when I heard papers and the files that’d been there hitting the floor.

“Kay—”

“No, wait. These are important,” I stated, pushing an agitated Joshua away so that I could bend down to pick up the discarded files.

“What is all of this?” he asked, crouching low to help me pick everything up.

“It’s reports and journal articles I’ve been gathering for my research on maternal mortality rates.”

Josh looked puzzled as we both stood. “Mortality rates?”

I inclined my head. “Yes. After what happened to Patience when the twins were born I got to thinking. Hers wasn’t the first story I heard either. Within the last year superstars like Serena Williams and even Beyoncé have spoken out on either almost dying or dealing with some sort of health scare while giving birth. From what I’ve read, it’s no stretch to say that the U.S. has the worst maternal mortality rate in the developed world, and it’s getting worse, not better.”

I paused to breathe. Talking about this topic was something that got me really worked up. Not only as a new mother, but as a woman who almost lost her sister-in-law due to the same issue.

“I assume you’re not researching just to research.”

I smiled. “You assume correctly, husband of mine. I want … no, need to do something about it. Even if only in my neck of the woods. At the shelter I want to hire staff to give birthing classes, discuss maternal health, and provide prenatal care to some extent. And I’ve also been thinking of becoming certified as a doula.”

“What the hell is a doula?”

“It’s a person who acts as an advocate for a birthing mother. They help provide a calming atmosphere and tend to any needs of the woman in labor. Also, they can communicate the mother’s wishes to the medical staff in the event that she can’t. For example, many women want to have an unmedicated birth but sometimes they are pressured to be induced with medications by hospital staff that might be overworked and just want to deliver the baby to get it over with. The doula steps in so mom doesn’t feel pressured to make a decision she doesn’t want.”